Automatic musical instrument.



A 110.881,318. PATBN-TEU MAR. 1o, 1908.

\ B. A. HUGLUNU.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APLIOATION FILED-PEB. 7, 1906.

A. 1;; [mi "will" m I Q *44* Il I W/TNESSES.' /NVENTOH i similarly keyed instruments,

. UNiTED 'STATES PATENT oFFicE.-

BERNDT ALFRED HOGrLU.l\D, 0F NEW-YORK, N. Y.

l No. 881,318.y i

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

`Specification `otLetter's Patent. Patented March 10, (1908.. Application and February 7, 1906. serial N9. 299,946. i

T o all whom it may concern.x

Be itr known that I, BERNDT ALFRED HoG- LUND, a citizen of .the United States, residing at W'illiamsbridge, borouvh of the Bronx, city of New York, New State ofv New York, have. invented. certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic' |Iusical Instruments, of which the following. is a full, clear, and exact specication, refer.- ence being had to the accompanying draw ings, and the reference characters marked thereon.

My present invention relates to that class whereon'the playingv of musical instruments 1s accom lished through instrumentallties o erated y an' pressure, but whereon the and they may organs o r other to either variety of which myim rovements are applicable.

"The object oi) my invention is to provide a pneumatic musical instrument withl a simple, cheap, efficient and convenient means for regulating the playing by the pneumatic ap aratus, and chiefly tolocate and arrange t e levers or stops within convenient reach of the iingers of the operator and insuch manner that they'will in no way interfere with tlieusual manipulations of the be in the form o f pianos or keys when the instrument is tobe played by arrange these the hands, and further to so hands of the levers or stops so that the operator may valways rest in a natural and easy manner upon the bank of keys while useful peculiarities of construction, relative in cross section and elevation on the pneumatic instrument is in operation.

To accomplish all of the foregoing and to secure other and further advantages in.. the mat-ters of construction, location and use, my invention vconsists in certain new and arrangement :and location of pjarts and particular combinations, as will.

fullyl described and then pointed out inthe 'l claims In jthe accompanying drawings Vforming :part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a key board `of a piano showing my improvements applied in connection with' the rail or cross piece above' the ke s,.the view being takenon a plane throug line 1-1 of Fig. 2.1 Fig. 2 is a view a plane through line 2-2 of Fig.v 1 and towards theleft of that figure.

YOrk county, and

-Wherever they e herein first looking Fig. 3 is an pointer and graduelevation showing the indicators which. are

ated plate of one of the emloyed. I

vall these ligures like letters of reference, occur, indicate corresponding parts black keys of a piano or other similar musical instrument, the said instrument being fitted lto beoperated by pneumatics according to any ofthe well known systems. Y yC is a rail or cross piece in front of the -bank of keys and D a rail'or cross ieee lo- A, IA, ,arethe .white keys and B, B, the' cated above the bank and backof t e black keys as is customary in these instruments. y E is a lever movable horizontally and pivoted, as at a, within the rail D. To receivev this-lever the rail D is suitably recessed below its top, as at b, within which recess all the necessary horizontal movements of the lever are possible. The leveris preferably fitted to be. movedby application of the thumb, although it might of course be moved with the finger, and it is supplied with an exten--1 sion, El, reaching out through the front of the'cross piece D so as to be conveniently engaged by the thumb or fin er for adjusting it, its extremity being provi ed with slight upturned portions c to facilitate kt-he engagement. Connected with the opposite end of this lever is a rod, F, leading to the portion of the pneumatic apparatus by which the movements of that a paratus may be controlled, preferably for t e timing of the apparatus, although' this particularlever might, as is apparent, be connected through the connecting r`rod F with the apparatus for varying the expression rather than for varying or controlling the time. Theextent of movement of the lever is indicated by the position of an' index or ointer located in convenient position.

' (El represents an index, thesame bein@r clonnected with the lever E by a rod H, the Index beingpivoted at a convenient point on the front' of the instrument, as at d.

I is a raduatedf'plate `secured upon the frontof t e instrument and havlng its 'zero Iabout opposite the rpointer when the letter is in vertical position The index platek may be graduated in any desired manner from zero in either direction, or in lany other suitable' manner as may-be preferred. n n "ff Ift-he above bethe means for regulating the time of the playing, then the lever at the other side of the figure may be regarded as the one for regulating or varying the expression ofthe playing, or the touch, that is,

A whether the touch is to be made light or fet i The hinged extension El kplace-in the rail D two levers an turned up and thus out of the way heavy, weak or strong. K is a second lever similar to the one at E, similarly mounted in and provided with an extension piece K1. j another index like the one at G .which in its position with respect to its corresponding,v aduated plate will show the position of the, ever. M 1s a rod leading to the portion of the pneumatic apparatus by which the expression is re lated or varied. With these their' connections the time and the expression of the vplaying may beregulated as 'ma f be required. Y To suitab y execute the playing, it is necessary to provide means for varying the expression for articular chords o'r particular short interva s, and for this purpose I emloy another set of small levers, one of which 1s represented at N, the same being arranged and located within a suitable recess of the rail D and at a convenient distance from the extension E1 of lever E, so that when" the thumb is engaged with the extension El, the lever N may be struck by one of the fingers. 'N1 is a rubber tube leading to the pneumatic 4which controls'the expression of the playing. The end of the lever N which projects in front of the cross rail D is intended to be depressed, and when depressed it opens the inlet to tube N1, thereby venting the pneumatic with which it is connected, as readily understood. On the oppositel side is a similar lever O and a similar tube Of b which the forte apparatus may be vente and the connections of these two levers may be reversed as mav those of levers E and K. Levers N and are comparativelyT small and do not. project in front of the rail D far enough to interfere with the manipulation of the keys. The extension pieces El and K1 are, however, hinged so that they may be when the instrument vis to be played with the hands.

P and l?l represent sections of a hinged cover for the key boards of ordinary form.. This cover is shown turned up in full lines in Fig. 2 and turned down, in' dotted lines. is shown down infull lines and turned up and out of the way in dotted lines. If necessary to accommo- -datethe projections c, the underside of the section P of thecover may be suitably recessed, but this is not necessary in many of the forms 1n which these covers are `constructed.

During the mechanical operation of the l instrument the hands 'of the operator may conveniently rest upon the keys, the latter j then being usually locked in position, and

The rod L connects with Y zontall levers,

zontally movable -in the recesses in the top the levers may be conveniently and quickly operated as occasion may re uire to vary the time, or the expression, or oth.l

H avinv'now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isg- 'cal instrument,

1. In an automatic musi the keys, a cross rail having an open recess `'in its top above the keys, and a horizontally movable lever for varying or regulating .the playing, said lever bemg pivoted in the recess in the -cross rail and movable horizontally above the ke s, the parts being combined and arrange substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a regulating lever, oi a i'ixed scale, a ointer connected with the lever and movable with relation to the ixed scale, and the cross rail having an open recess in its top, said lever being mounted and horizontally movable in the open recess in the top of the cross rail and over the keys, ubstantially as and for the purposes set ort l 3. In combination with the key board .of a

musical instrument and 'a crossrail above the keys, said cross rail having an open recess in its top, a time lever and a separate expression lever, the time lever being hori; movable in the recessinv the top of the rai and the expression lever being vertically-movable lupon the top of the cross rail above the ke s, all arranged to operate substantially in t e manner and `for the purposes set forth. l y

4.- In combination with the key board and cross rail of an automaticmusical instrument, said cross rail having recesses in its top, two time levers and two expression the time levers being each .horiof the rail and the expressionlevers being mounted and vertically movable'upon the top of the rail, all arranged substantially in the manner and for thepurposes set forth.

5. The combination with the key board and the cross rail above the same, said cross rail having an open recess in its top, of a lever pivoted in the open recess in the top of the rail and being horizontally movable therein, said lever being provided with a hinged projecting part arranged to be turned up and out of the' way of the keys, substantially as-and for the purposes set forth.'

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name tothis specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

BERNDT ALFRED HOGLUND.

Witnesses: Y

' C. Srznewrclc,

J. M. HOWARD.

las 

